EDINBURGH (CORSTORPHINE HILL) CEMETERY

Historical Information

During the two world wars, the United Kingdom became an island fortress used for training troops and launching land, sea and air operations around the globe. There are more than 170,000 Commonwealth war graves in the United Kingdom, many being those of servicemen and women killed on active service, or who later succumbed to wounds. Others died in training accidents, or because of sickness or disease. The graves, many of them privately owned and marked by private memorials, will be found in more than 12,000 cemeteries and churchyards.

Second World War military hospitals were in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Bangour. The city was also Scottish Command Headquarters.

Edinburgh (Corstophine Hill) Cemetery contains 35 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, mostly found in plots in the south-east corner. In Section B there is a separate plot for Polish service burials - one of the many Polish camps in Scotland was near Edinburgh - which contains 165 graves. There are also two war graves of other nationalities and 39 post war service burials within the cemetery.